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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag.  Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Will Baker Mayfield be in Tampa Bay next season and beyond?

ANSWER: The Bucs certainly hope so. Baker Mayfield proved himself to be a starting-caliber quarterback in his first year in Tampa Bay. But who will replace Dave Canales at offensive coordinator? That’s a question Mayfield would like to know the answer to. And will Mayfield continue to have success in a new offensive system in 2024?

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

If Mayfield truly wants to return to Tampa Bay, the Bucs will gladly re-sign him. But if he wants to maximize his value and test free agency, then it could cause two problems.

First, it might cost the Bucs more to ultimately re-sign him. What if the Bucs want to re-sign Mayfield around $25 million per year and he hits free agency and commands a contract around $30 million or more? If the Bucs decide to match and invest $5 million more than they had budgeted, it might mean they can’t sign another free agent they want to add.

Second, what if Atlanta decides to pursue Mayfield in free agency? Zac Robinson, who was Mayfield’s QBs coach for the end of the 2022 season in Los Angeles, is the new Falcons offensive coordinator. Atlanta has two very good tight ends in Kyle Pitts and Jonnu Smith, an emerging wide receiver in Drake London and two great backs in Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier.

The Falcons could make quite a strong pitch to Mayfield if they’re interested in signing a free agent quarterback. Raheem Morris just got hired and might have more job security than Todd Bowles, who is 17-17 in two years as the Bucs head coach, does in Tampa Bay.

QUESTION: If we hire a new offensive coordinator and the offense has success, do you expect the Glazers to promote that offensive coordinator to head coach next year no matter what happens in 2025 – winning season or losing season? The Bucs can’t go through another OC search again.

ANSWER: Well, there are so many variables to consider with your question. It really depends on how successful the Bucs offense is in 2024. I’m not sure if lightning can strike twice with Tampa Bay finding another offensive coordinator who will go on to become a head coach next year after one season like Dave Canales did this year. And I’m not sure Tampa Bay’s next offensive coordinator will automatically be a legit head coaching candidate, either.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Dave Canales – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I do agree that the Bucs need to get off the offensive coordinator treadmill sooner rather than later. As I wrote about in Friday’s SR’s Fab 5, that’s the problem of having a defensive-minded head coach in the modern-day NFL. Teams are looking to hire hot shot offensive play-callers to be head coaches.

What’s troubling for Tampa Bay is that this is the second year in a row that the Bucs are having real problems finding good candidates to show interest in the offensive coordinator job. Last year, the Bucs interviewed nine candidates before Canales. Todd Monken interviewed and opted for the Ravens offensive coordinator job, while Dan Pitcher interviewed and elected to stay in Cincinnati as the Bengals quarterbacks coach. Pitcher just got promoted to offensive coordinator.

It was one thing with candidates not showing much interest last year with Todd Bowles needing to produce a winning record to keep his job, and not knowing which quarterback would replace Tom Brady. But now that the Bucs have won back-to-back division titles and have a good chance to re-sign Mayfield for multiple years, it shouldn’t be this hard to get interest in the Tampa Bay offensive coordinator job.

But it is, unfortunately. One has to wonder if the perception around the league is that Bowles is still on shaky ground with just a 17-17 record in two regular seasons and a 1-2 record in the postseason. Bowles is now on his third offensive coordinator in three years, and that rarely works out well for any head coach.

QUESTION: Is Thad Lewis the favorite to land the OC job? And if so, why are they interviewing some of these retreads that have proven they aren’t that good?

Bucs QBs coach Thad Lewis and QBs Kyle Trask, Baker Mayfield and John Wolford – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: No, I don’t think Tampa Bay quarterbacks coach Thad Lewis is the favorite to replace Dave Canales as the Bucs offensive coordinator at all. In fact, I don’t think he’s a legitimate candidate right now. If he was, the team would have already promoted Lewis by now. Canales took the Panthers head coaching job on Thursday. The Bucs have had five days to interview and promote Lewis and they haven’t yet.

Meanwhile, the Bills and Raiders put permission slips in to interview Lewis for their vacant offensive coordinator jobs. Buffalo has already hired interim coordinator Joe Brady, so that’s one less option for Lewis. I just don’t think the Bucs view that he’s ready to call plays yet after being just a first-year quarterbacks coach.

Three out of the Bucs’ four initial candidates have already taken offensive coordinator jobs elsewhere without even interviewing in Tampa Bay. Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson is now the Falcons offensive coordinator. Former Chargers offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is now the Eagles’ play-caller. Former Buffalo offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey will now call plays in Cleveland.

QUESTION: With the Ravens season now over, do the Glazers make a big move for Todd Monken?

Ravens OC Todd Monken – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: I don’t think so, but with the Glazers, you never really know. They are certainly unpredictable. I’ve seen it first-hand with the Bucs firing Tony Dungy after the 2001 season and firing Jon Gruden after the 2008 season. I know Todd Monken would have been one of the candidates if Todd Bowles had been fired this year had the Bucs not won the division and gotten a playoff win over the Eagles.

The benefit with Monken – or any offensive-minded head coach – is that if it works out, the Bucs would have continuity as a play-caller and a constant rapport and chemistry with the quarterback. But from everything I’ve heard so far, Bowles is safe for the 2024 season, and the team is focused on finding a new offensive coordinator to replace Dave Canales, who left to be the Panthers’ head coach.

Monken’s first season in Baltimore didn’t end the way he wanted it to with the Chiefs beating the Ravens, 17-10, in the AFC Championship Game. But Baltimore was the league’s second-leading scoring team, averaging 28.7 points per game. The Ravens scored 25 and 34 points in two games against the Texans, 33 points versus the 49ers, 37 points versus the Rams, 38 points against the Lions, and 56 points versus the Dolphins – all playoff teams. Very impressive showing for Monken’s offense.

QUESTION: I find it interesting that with all the head coach hype Dave Canales has received of late, the Seahawks that should know him as well as anyone didn’t seem to have interest. Could this be because they know he isn’t ready to be a head coach yet? It seems odd.

Dave Canales – Photo by: Seahawks

ANSWER: That is a very interesting point. The Seahawks fired Pete Carroll before Dave Canales was hired in Carolina as the Panthers head coach. One would think that if Seattle really thought Canales was going to be a special head coach that the team would have pounced on him before Carolina did.

Yet new Panthers general manager Dan Morgan, who spent eight years with Canales in Seattle while he was in the personnel department, was intrigued by the Bucs offensive coordinator. I do think Canales has the chance to be a very good head coach in Carolina if he has time to build that program.

Panthers owner David Tepper is the most impatient owner in sports. He’s already fired four coaches in two years in Carolina – head coaches Matt Rhule and Frank Reich and two interim head coaches in Steve Wilks and Chris Tabor. The Panthers lack offensive weaponry for Bryce Young, so they’ll need some serious upgrades at wide receiver and tight end. And Canales will need at least three years to make the Panthers formidable.

QUESTION: I know we need a high-end edge rusher for next year and will probably look at taking one in the first round. But what are the chances we have of getting a guy like Josh Allen on Brian Burns in free agency?

ANSWER: Highly doubtful. The Bucs just won’t have the cap room to sign a big-name pass rusher like Josh Allen or Brian Burns. Tampa Bay is fortunate enough to have the cap room this year re-sign its own top free agents. Remember, the Bucs have five big-time free agents of their own that they need to return in 2024 to avoid taking a step back.

LT Donovan Smith and Panthers OLB Brian Burns – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Free safety Antoine Winfield Jr. will set the market for safeties at $20 million per year – or get the franchise tag at just over $17 million. Wide receiver Mike Evans figures to get around $25 million per year. Quarterback Baker Mayfield should make a similar amount – if not a little more.

The Bucs also need to re-sign linebacker Lavonte David, although he should come significantly cheaper at around $5 million-$7 million for one more season. Re-signing kicker Chase McLaughlin will also be a priority and he’ll likely fetch around $3 million per season. Of course, these deals will be backloaded to help the team’s 2024 cap.

Tampa Bay will have maybe $10 million or so to invest in a value edge rusher like New England’s Josh Uche or a value interior offensive lineman like Tennessee’s Aaron Brewer. But most of the team’s needs will have to be addressed in this year’s draft.

QUESTION:  Why were so many so far off on the level of talent on this team? Of course, an up-and-down season, but there talent was at every position group. Was it all a lack of confidence in the coaching or the QB? How wrong we all were.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Well the national media certainly was wrong about the Bucs in 2024, as was Las Vegas, which set the team’s over/under at 6.5 wins. Tampa Bay wound up with nine in the regular season and added another one in the postseason.

I had the Bucs finishing 9-8 this season in my preseason predictions and that’s exactly what happened. I think the record of the Pewter Report staff when averaged out was also 9-8. We had a pretty good read on this team having been to the OTAs and training camp.

I think the national media assumed Atlanta would win the division just because they brought in several high-priced free agents in the offseason. They failed to realize that Arthur Smith was not a good coach, evidenced by three seasons with a 7-10 finish. And the national media also thought Baker Mayfield couldn’t come close to replacing Tom Brady. In fact, Mayfield’s 2024 season was just as good as Brady’s 2023 – if not better – statistically.